skip to main |
skip to sidebar
If only it were a Three Stooges movie! You could just change the channel. Unfortunately, the cost to every American of the lack of any coherent and coordinated policy to address the potent nexus between energy independence, global warming and nation security on the part of the Federal Government grows daily. Add to that now the financial crisis now facing America, a housing market described earlier this month by Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf as the “worst since Great Depression,” credit losses at major US Banks projected to be over $400 billion and growing daily, and a growing floodtide of foreclosures facing millions of American homeowners. What does it all mean for America? The UN Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change report 11/17/07 – IPCC Fourth Assessment (AR4) Report full report & panel web-cast makes it ever clearer that the problems associated with global warming and the need to address them grow greater with every day’s delay. Sooner or later, America will have to invest large sums of money to address global warming. The longer we wait, the more it will cost.
Another problem we now face is the plunging value of our dollar, as this inevitably will continue to push up the price of oil. The longer American remains dependent on imported oil, the faster we will have to print dollars to pay for it. At some point, it is quite possible - to the delight of Al Queda, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmaud Ahmadinejan - that many countries will follow the lead of Kuwait which this summer stopped pegging its own currency to the dollar http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/jimjubak/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4948777. Were this to happen, oil prices would truly skyrocket, as America would have to pay for its oil by buying the local currency at the exchange rates set by other, often not very friendly, countries.
There is mega-Katrina policy failure at the federal level. The best policies and iniatives in America are bubbling upward from state and city government, environmentalists, corporate America and growing awareness on the part of the American public. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia currently require power companies to produce at least some of their electricity from renewable sources.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2007-08-21-renewable-energy_N.htm General Electric is closing plants which manufacture the old style incandescent bulbs, and its manufacture and sale of CFLs is growing rapidly. http://www.tedmag.com/common/webnewslink.asp?currentpage=4635
Advancements in solar technology are leading to large scale, price competitive solar energy production.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/06/01/100050990/index.htm
Given all that is happening outside the beltway, imagine the progress America could make with a wise, coherent and coordinated national policy to address the potent nexus between energy independence, global warming and nation security. Consider the alternative. It’s easy to laugh at the absurdity of a three Stooges movie. Laughter will be harder to come by in an America where energy must be rationed and available only for essential services. If we collectively fail to make wise choices for America now, we may well collectively suffer as, the lights go out in our homes, and there isn’t enough gas to get to work.
DO THE MATH! The commonly available nightlight found in America’s bathrooms, bedrooms and kitchens uses a seven watt incandescent bulb. Now there are a number of LED nightlights available which use far less energy. If you compare the two nightlights above, both made by the same company, the LED uses only .3 Watts compared to 7 watts for the familiar incandescent bulb. Using 7 watts rather than .3 watts means using 23.3 times the power to do the same job. Why would you do this??!!
There are uncountable millions of conventional incandescent seven-watt night-lights in use in the United States. However, assuming just one million of these were replaced at the same time, the replacement lights would require 300,000 watts of power instead of 7,000,000 watts.
This year, replacing conventional incandescent lighting in our home has reduced our electric bill by about a third. Our nightlights, the smallest of our incandescent lights, were replaced last. Anyone can save money on their electric bill by switching to cfls and led lights. There is no longer an issue of availability. They are on the shelves at your hardware store, Home Depot and Wal-Mart’s.
Corporate America is rapidly going green. As oil, gas and electricity prices have gone ever upward companies there is a growing awareness that saving energy translates into lower, sometimes dramatically lower costs.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118772418179504367.html
Many American cities are providing leadership in the areas of energy independence and global warming. All yellow taxis in the city of New York will berequired to use hybrid technology and meet new fuel consumption standards by 2012. According to Mayor Bloomberg: "Phased in over the next five years, these new standards will cut carbon emissions from these vehicles by half within a decade."
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-05/2007-05-24-voa33.cfm?CFID=184362152&CFTOKEN=87906977
In Washington D.C., a non-profit consortium of leading Washington-area businesses, institutions, government agencies, congregations, and community and environmental organizations called Cool Capital Challenge, is working to bring about an immediate and dramatic reduction in regional greenhouse gas.
http://www.coolcapitalchallenge.org
There is, regrettably, no coherent leadership at the Federal level. America needs a comprehensive national policy, which recognizes national security, energy independence, and global warming are closely linked issue. Issues which must be urgently and simultaneously addressed. America MUST reduce energy consumption, both by reducing the waste of energy and becoming much more energy efficient. America MUST brings on line, as rapidly as possible, EVERY source of clean, renewable domestic energy available to us.
America’s energy crisis grows deeper every day. The crisis is becoming very apparent: the United States cannot sustain an energy system that relies on $200,000 per minute of imported oil, nor continue to be the world’s largest carbon footprint. Add to this al queda and its ilk are well aware of our vulnerability. Perhaps we would profit from thinking about the Chinese symbol for crisis, which is is translated as “danger, opportunity.”
In he current crisis, there is indeed both danger great opportunity. Thanks to growing public awareness, things are changing. The Energy Industry Bulletin, of July 29th, 2007 quotes an article by Rebecca Smith, The July 25, 2007 Wall Street : “As recently as May, U.S. power companies had announced intentions to build as many as 150 new generating plants fueled by coal… But as plans for this fleet of new coal-powered plants move forward, an increasing number are being canceled or development slowed. Coal plants have come under fire because coal is a big source of carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for global warming,…”
http://www.energybulletin.net/32715.html?referer=sphere_related_content
In the August 2nd, 2007 Wall Street Journal, an article by Jonathan Welsh reports: “To win back customers, auto makers are using a variety of new technologies to improve SUVs' fuel economy, including cleaner-burning diesel engines, gasoline-electric hybrids, special lightweight parts and even power-steering pumps that think for themselves.” Corporate America increasingly realizes that Going Green is now part of doing business in the USA, and will become more so.
Others recognize the opportunities which America’s energy crisis brings with it. The same Wall Street Journal issue, in an article by Eleanor Laise, notes there is now “a slew of funds focusing on solar power, wind turbines and other alternative energy sources.” By bringing alternative, clean and renewable domestic energy sources on line as rapidly as possible America will greatly enhance its national security and greatly reduce our carbon footprint. America also has the opportunity to become the world leader in clean, renewable energy technologies.
--------------------------------
To accompany the GREENHAWK BLOG there is now a GREENHAWK WEB RESOURCES PAGE. The website’s content, which is regularly updated, includes hyperlinks to websites which offer useful information for those for those interested in the potent nexus between national security, energy independence, and America's carbon footprint.
http://www.lifecoachusa.com/greenhawk
To get on the GREENHAWK BLOG has been updated E-list, please E-mail
me and include “Add me to the Greenhawk E-List” as your subject. Thank you!
The United States spends $200,000 per minute on imported oil...$13 million per hour.
http://www.nrdc.org/air/transportation/aoilpolicy2.asp
What's in your wallet? Dollars which are shrinking in value as our debt load increases!
What's in al queda's wallet? Dollars Americans spend on imported oil which are turned into the weapons which kill American servicemen and woman.
National Security, energy independence and global warming are closely linked issues, which must be urgently and simultaneously addressed. Americans MUST break their addiction to imported oil. We MUST become much more energy efficient. We must bring on line, as rapidly as possible, EVERY source of clean, renewable domestic energy available to us. .
